How Briggs got his groove back

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Where the heart is: Paul Briggs, back in Sydney yesterday, will get his light-heavyweight title shot in May.Photo: Craig Golding

The grand prize is almost within striking distance for Australian
fighter Paul Briggs. Brad Walter reports.

From world kickboxing champion to dance-music producer to
arguably the hardest puncher in Australian boxing, Paul Briggs has
travelled an unusual route to his upcoming world title fight
against Tomasz Adamek in Chicago.

In between, there have been ups and downs, bizarre and uplifting
experiences - and the frustration of having to wait almost a year
for a shot at the WBC light-heavyweight belt.

But, through it all, 29-year-old Briggs believes he has learnt
more about himself than he would have otherwise.

"I really know who I am now, I'm happy with that and I know what
I want from life, and that's a great strength to be able to draw
from," Briggs said after flying into Sydney yesterday from Los
Angeles to announce details of the May 21 fight.

"I've got a beautiful wife, I've got a boy and a girl and I live
an amazing life, so I've got a lot of things that a lot of people
will always dream of having and never be able to obtain so I feel
very blessed."

Having taken up professional kickboxing when he was 15, Briggs
moved to Thailand two years later to pursue his dream of winning a
world title. Despite losing at his first attempt to Thai hero Jom
Hod, he eventually succeeded.

But at 19 he began to lose interest in the sport and retired
soon after to work as a DJ, performing in Tokyo at one stage.

"Kickboxing was about my ego," he said. "I saw some pretty
full-on stuff in Thailand. I was over there by myself in a training
camp and didn't speak the language so it was a huge experience for
me.

"But I missed out on my adolescence. I didn't know what it was
like to go out and have a beer with my friends."

Taking the opportunity to do so inspired a radical career change
after a friend took him to a dance party in Brisbane's Fortitude
Valley.

Briggs built his own production studio and was approached to
sign a recording deal with a German dance-music label.

"At the time, the scene was still predominantly gay and it was
very, very underground but what blew me away was that you could get
2000 or 3000 people in one place and everyone was having fun," he
said. "I'd never experienced that before.

"Unfortunately that was to the demise of my kickboxing career.
It was a very unhealthy lifestyle but all of those life experiences
add up to make you who you are."

So, having turned another 180 degrees to become a full-time
boxer five years ago, what does he expect of his first world-title
fight?

"I really loved the music but I sacrificed it for this because I
just had that fire burning inside me," Briggs said. "I've been
training for six months for a world-title fight, and not just going
to the gym but training at an unbelievable intensity.

"That's what breaks a lot of fighters. But I understand how I
work, I know what my limits are, I know how to inspire myself and
how to stay inspired.

"I know when to turn off, I know how to turn off in the right
way and still be able to keep training. I know how my mind works
and that controls everything else.

"I've fought three world-title eliminators and this is just all
part of it, having to wait. Some guys have to wait two or three
years, and that's what a lot of boxers can't handle. It gets to me
for about three minutes. In this game, the strong get up and keep
going and the weak fall by the wayside. But I'm so mentally strong
there is nothing that can alter my resolve. Boxing isn't my life,
it's what I do."